Sunday, November 20, 2011

Some Coffee Talk


So I'm going to do it, guys. I'm going to let you read something from my book. I haven't edited this yet, and I would in no way call myself a great writer, but here it is. Probably the most legitimate dialog I've written. The formating isn't great, but hopefully you guys will cut me some slack. It *is* NaNoWriMo after all!

Setting: The Pecan, a local coffee shop.

"Hey, Ingrid!" says George as I walk in. I wave to him as I close the door, the jingle of the bells making noise over my head.

"Nippy out there, eh?' he says.

"Yeah," I reply, "November's been a pretty harsh month."

"Agreed. So what will it be today?" he asks me.

"Just a late," i respond, "I also need to tell you and Delila some exciting news. Do you guys have a second?"

"Uhm," murmurs George, "I'll see. Delila's in the back. Go ahead and take a seat anywhere you'd like and I'll get your order in for you." He walks to the back and I take a small seat next to the window. I look out the window to see all of the people wondering the streets with a backwards "The Best Coffee in SoHo!" painted on the window. I put my purse on the ground under the table and put my foot through the handle, as to make sure that I don't forget it. Too many times before have I forgotten my purse, and I'm not about to make that mistake ever again.

"Hey!" I hear Lila say." I turn my head to see her coming over with George. "George said you wanted to tell us some news of yours?"

"Yeah," i reply, "do you have time?'

"Doll, we have more time in the world than you could possibly imagine," she says with a smile. She sits down in the seat opposite of me and George takes a chair from a neighboring table and straddles it, folding his arms on the top of the chair.

"What's up?" he asks.

"I got a new job," I say quickly, trying to keep my smile hidden, but somehow it still seems to seep through.

"You did?" George and Delila say in unison.

"It's probably my dream job," I say, "and it pays really well."

"You've got to be kidding me," says george, folding his arms, "that's fantastic. Is it in photography?"

"It is. I just quit my Apple job a couple days ago."

"Ah, damn," says Delilia, "who's going to get me all of those massive discounts, then?"

"Sorry," I say with a little laugh, "I can still fix anything you need fixing. Apple products only, though."

"So tell us!" says George, "tell us about your fabulous job!"

"Okay,' I take a breath, preparing myself for confusion and questions. "I met a friend of my moms at my work, and he has his little kid with him."

"Ew, kids," says Delila. I can't really tell if she's joking or not.

"He recognized my name and after talking to him for a while and we talked a bit about my life and my mom over coffee. After a little bit of conversation, he gave me a job proposal. Because he's heard so much from my mom about my photography, he wanted me to document his son's life while Julian's mother is in the hospital." As soon as I say this, Delila cuffs her hands over her mouth as soon as I say this.

"That's terrible!" she looked so sad, and I'm guessing that she gets pretty emotional about things like this. "How old is Julian? That's the kid's name, right?Julian?"

"He's 7," I say, "it's almost heartbreaking looking at the kid, because it's almost like he's oblivious as to what's going on."

"Well it's probably his way to coping with what's going on," suggested George, picking at his finger. "I have no clue as to how that would feel. But if I was that age, I would probably try to block it out from my brain."

"But here's another thing," I tell them, "he has this imaginary friend that he's always talking to."

"That isn't unusual," says Delila, "I had an imaginary friend when I was younger. Granted I was like, four."

"But see, I got the feeling that he doesn't really have a lot of friends, and this friend is his way of... dealing with what's going on," I say, trying to remember what exactly he was saying to Corwin. No direct quotes came to mind. I just shrugged.

"So are you living with Oliver?" asks Delila.

"Half the time. A couple nights during the week and I'm on call the rest of the time."

"Is there a reason he can't do this stuff himself?"

"I think he just doesn't want to screw up. It seems like he's really stressed, and doesn't have time to do any of this stuff himself. So he wants someone who knew what they were doing."

"Large latte for Ingrid!" I hear a worker from behind the counter say. I start to get up but George puts his hand up as if to stop me.

"It's my job," he says as he quickly gets up from the chair.

"Well that sounds like a fantastic job," says Delila, "does it pay well?"

"It pays extremely well. I'm not even sure if I can comprehend." I lean in to whisper the amount, as to not attract attention. " 7,300." Right after I say this Delila's eyes spread wide open and her jaw drops. I sit there and half smile, waiting for her to respond.

"You're shitting me right now. You've got to be fucking shitting me right now." After she says this she realizes what she says, and turns around to see a mother with her young child sitting behind her.

"Sorry, ma'am!" she says, looking embarrassed. The mother gives her a glare, and then quickly spreads the glare to my direction. I quickly move my head away.

"What did I miss?" asks George as he comes back with my latte.

"Took you long enough," I say to him in a joking tone.

"Sorry, I was talking to Wilson in the back. He just can't seem to understand the process of a late steamer. Anyway, come on! What did I miss?" He looks over to Delila and she still loves like someone just told her that Santa isn't real.

"Go ahead," said Delila, "tell him the pay." I lean in and whisper the amount in his ear.

" SEVEN THOUSAND?" exclaims George, immediately drawing attention to our table from the whole cafe. The women behind us glares at us with piercing grey eyes.

"Nice volume," I say as George immediately sulks down in his chair.

"Well, that's pretty awesome," he says, as if he didn't just yell my pay check in the middle of a coffee shop.

"You guys are taking this way better than Nathan did,' I say.

'Was he worried about you living with someone you just met?"

"It was half that, but the other half seemed like he was almost jealous," I say. "I have no idea why."

"You just moved in with him, and I don't think he has a lot of friends," says Nathan. "Oh, I know! We can all go out to a gay bar! That would be so much fun!" George and I both look at her like she just suggested that we go to a Justine Beiber concert.

"Hear me out, guys. it would be a fun way for Nathan to meet people, and maybe even get a boyfriend? It'll be fun!"

"I guess that could be fun. A plus I guess is that we wouldn't have to worry about getting hit on." George sits up in his chair when I say this.

"What am I, chop liver?" he asks

"Just remember these words," I say, "'I'm straight. Hit on that guy.' All will be well in the world." George looks at us to a couple seconds. "I think about it," he finally says.

"I'll ask Nathan tonight. He wants to meet Oliver, just to make sure that he's not going to murder me," I say. "I should get to my apartment real quick before I get to my final shift." A couple people are starting to trickle in the door. Jingle after jingle meets my ears, and I feel happy.

"Looks like the rush is starting," says George. He stands up and slides the chair back in it's rightful place.

"I'll see you guys later," I say, grabbing my bag from underneath the table.

"Don't forget to tell us how tonight goes!" says Delila. I nod wave goodbye to both of them as I push open the door, making the jingling noise sound once again.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

the world, the obscure

I've just been having way too much fun with pictures lately.










These photos were taken with my new iPhone that I got for my birthday. Oddly enough I've been having a lot of fun with using different apps to create effects on my photos. It's been getting me interested in using actual fancy cameras and film cameras. Alas, I don't have the money, but it would be nice to have one...  Oh well. I think these will do. 
  I'm going to invest in some kind of tripod so I can take more even, level shots. Hopefully I can find a nice cheap one online somewhere. I've been wanting to take nice non-myspace pictures of myself wearing my knits, so I think a tri-pod would be a great way to do so!

To a different subject, I'm a little sad that I'm not participating in BEDA (Blog Every Day in April) because I think it would give me a great excuse to blog more. I was thinking about doing BEDA, only in May. So it would be... MEDA? That sounds weird. xD Oh, well. It works! If anyone has suggestions of what I should write about, I'd love to hear them!

Another thing that I wanted to try to do is wither write a song a day for two weeks, or write a song a week for the rest of the year. Think I can do it? I just wrote my first (actually good) song last night at 1:00 in the morning. It's about two characters in a book I wrote for NaNoWriMo. I have lots of song ideas, so that's something that I want to partake in as well. What do you guys think, write a song a day for two weeks or write a song a week for the rest of the year?

I'm jumping around topics here, and my next blog post will most likely have more structure and will hopefully be a lot better, but I'm excited to really getting into this blogging thing. :D

Oh, and during the Summer I'm going to be doing vlogs. I'm going to start my own "Thoughts from Places" series. If you guys are interested, go to youtube.com/neondreamscollide. I already have a couple of videos up there, so if acoustic covers strike your fancy... Yeah. Shameless self promotion. xD

I will write those book reviews next week! I promise!

Ellie

***In Omnia Paratus 

Friday, April 1, 2011

they purr

So sorry I haven't been posting. 
I really have no excuses...
But here's something that might entertain you.
Are you a fan of cats?






I will be writing some new books reviews this coming week including:
Anna and the French Kiss
Accidental Billionaires
An Abundance of Katherines

***in omnia paratus




Thursday, January 13, 2011

Book Review: L.A. Candy



 Book Summery [from Goodreads]:
Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer ... everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.
  When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!
  Soon Jane is TV's hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara—free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres—and she's lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane's spotlight.
  In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it's not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be.
Review:
*** (three stars)

Why was I interested in this book in the first place? Curiosity. I've seen so many celebrities write books who have gone onto the New York Times best seller list, and I wanted to know if it was any good. 
  I think it was an interesting story (though not the most original) and while Lauren Conrad isn't a terrible writer, she's not the most amazing. I thought that the writing was very juvenile. I wouldn't say that this book is anything special, but I think that if you see the book in the library, go ahead and pick it up if you have a little time on your hands. It's a very, very easy read and it has a strong "chick lit" vibe, so if you like that sort of thing, then this is the book for you. 
  This book is written in 3rd person and in the beginning, the story starts out slow. Very slow. During the middle of the book it starts to pick up speed, and a couple of times I actually found myself interested in what was going to happen next. It left you with a pretty good cliffhanger, but I'm not sure I care enough about the characters to go back. I liked the two main characters, Jane and Scarlett, but I didn't like how their friendship was explained. It seemed a little forced to me and I didn't like the way that the men/love interests were introduced. I didn't care about them at all. Maybe that's how Lauren wanted the reader to feel, but it wasn't very clear.
  I'm not entirely sure why I kept on reading this book until the end. I think it was because I was hoping that the ending was going to amazing and I would want to go back for more. I wanted it to get better.
  So this book all in all was a bit of a disappointment... but I still say that if you have time in the summer to pick this book up at the library (only at the library, this book isn't a re-read) and give it a try. You might like it, you might not.
***in omnia paratus

Other books finished this week:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

Friday, January 7, 2011

kindles: they don't suck

I was starting the new year with the mind set that I was going to try to read one book at a time, as to finish the books more efficiently, but to hell with that. I'm ready about 5 books right now, and starting more by the day.
  I think that's one of the problems I have... i tend to start things way more then I finished them. That includes starting knitting projects or extra credit work or anything that involves a finish line. Ugg. It's quite annoying... I'm hoping to finish three of the 5 books that I'm reading (An Abundance of Katherines, Harry Potter 1, and LA Candy) and write reviews on them.
  I'm reading An Abundance of Katherines on my father's Kindle (don't judge me...) and I like using the Kindle far more than I thought... Just last week I was set against them. You can't smell them, you can't turn the page, you can't go to the store and look through the shelves to pick out the best book... etc, etc. Though there are so many pros! You can get free classic books, you can listen to the book using text-to-speech, you don't have to worry about the book flopping, it's light, and the text is adjustable. So actually, it's quite a joy. I'm hoping to read lots of classics on it like Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Phantom... There are just so many choices!
  Okay, so now that I've finished my rant on how amazing Kindles are, I think I'll go and use it. Almost half way through Kathtines and almost finished with HP (reading the series for the third-or-fourth-or-fifth-er-i-can't-remember time). Keep calm and read on!
**in omnia paratus

Sunday, January 2, 2011

starting this day like any other.

Oh, hey there.
I have been interested in starting a blog for a while now. I have had a love for writing for as long as I can remember, and I thought that I would start off  the new year by starting one. I might not always have something extremely witty to say, but hey, that's life
  Along with regular blogs about how my day is and what's bugging me at the moment, I'm also going to post book reviews. My goal this year is to read as many books as possible, and I thought that writing a review on the book would be a pretty good idea. I'll try to write as critically as I can, but I'll probably end up ranting on about how much I hate the book or about how much I loved it. We'll see! If you have any book suggestions I'd love to hear them. I have a good about of books lined up for 2011, but I'm not sure if they'll be enough. If you really loved a book, I might love it as well. ^.^ 
  So I might be the only one reading this, and maybe no one will care about what I have to say or what my life is like, but let's just wait and see how this goes!
***in omnia paratus